FACEM 1 <www.facem.at> 06.12.2013 BABETTE BECHTOLD Western Greek and Sardinian Amphorae from Punic Sites in the Southern Mediterranean (6th-3rd century B.C.E.): New Evidence from Fabric Analysis for Economic Interaction in the Carthaginian Sphere of Influence Given the silence of the literary sources in relation to ancient trade in the southern part of the Central Mediterranean under Punic influx, the provenance identification of transport amphorae provides a means to approach commercial relations. Thus, one of the focal points of the current project on economic interactions between Punic and Greek settlements1 is on the open access publication of a considerable high number of imported amphorae found on selected Punic sites. This kind of documentation builds upon amphorae productions previously edited on FACEM and located in the Ionian-Adriatic area, in Calabria, Lucania and in western Sardinia and expands our knowledge of distribution patterns. The bulk of the selected samples consists of diagnostic rim fragments – some from sealed archaeological contexts – therefore supplementing the morphological repertoire of our previously published fabric data. However, none of the samples presented here has undergone archaeometric analysis. In fact, our provenance studies are based on descriptions derived from binocular magnification of the freshly broken surface of the sample itself, then compared with the original reference samples of the attributed fabrics,2 as well as the interpretation of digital photos of the fragments (x8, x16, and x25 magnification).3 The selection of archaeological sites has depended, as usual, upon the possibility of obtaining sampling permissions from the local authorities. For the present study we sampled a considerable number of sherds, most of all from those yielded by the survey undertaken in the suburban territory and by the excavations on the Acropolis at Pantelleria (N 71, labeled M 119/).4 These amphorae cover the entire span of our study from the late 7th down to the early 3rd century B.C.E., but the greatest number derive from residual or surface finds. The German, Dutch and Belgium/Tunisian excavations on the Bir Messaouda site at Carthage (N 38, labeled M 92/) also provided samples spanning the entire chronological range of our study.5 A still unpublished 1 'Economic interactions between Punic and Greek settlements in the southern Central Mediterranean (late 7th-4th B.C.E.): the evidence of the transport amphorae'. I acknowledge the support by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF: P 25046-G19). For the project, see http://klass-archaeologie.univie.ac.at/forschung/bechtold/. 2 I am indebted to my friend and colleague K. Schmidt, for her help in defining fabrics by the use of the microscope in the laboratory of the Institute of Classical Archaeology of the University of Vienna. Without her continuous assistance the present research would not have appeared. Furthermore, I thank R. Lampl (University of Vienna) for the photographic documentation of the samples. 3 The material has been documented at the Institute of Classical Archaeology of the University of Vienna according to the standardized methods of the FACEM Database, see http://facem.at/project/about.php#photography. 4 I thank my friend and colleague M. Almonte (Direzione Generale delle Antichità a Roma), responsible for the Cossyra survey (see now Almonte 2013), Th. Schäfer (University of Tübingen) and M. Osanna (Scuola di Specializzazione di Matera), co-directors of the excavations on the acropolis of S. Teresa (campaigns 2000-2011), for allowing me to study selected materials yielded by their research. Furthermore, I owe thanks to the Soprintendenza BB.CC.AA. di Trapani for the sampling permission. For the already published amphorae from Pantelleria see Bechtold 2013a, b, c, d. 5 I thank the co-directors of the excavations at the Bir Messaouda site at Carthage (campaigns 2002-2005) R.F. Docter (Ghent University) and F. Chelbi (then Institut National Patrimoine) for giving me the opportunity to sample different kinds of archaeological materials. For the already published amphorae from Carthage see Bechtold 2007, 2008a. FACEM 2 <www.facem.at> 06.12.2013 assemblage (N 26, labeled M 149/) derives from the recent soundings at Ghizène on Jerba. 6 These amphorae date to within the late 6th to early 3rd century B.C.E. and for the most part represent residual finds from the Roman period. For Malta, our information is still very incomplete, still we have studied one fragment from the Villa site of Żejtun (N 1, labeled M 105/), 7 and another from the Malta Survey Project (labeled M 105/).8 A stratified assemblage from the American excavations at temple B at Selinus (N 21, labeled M 154/) completes the imported amphorae repertoire of the 4th- early 3rd century B.C.E.9 Finally, we analyzed three sherds of the same, later period from the Northern Gate at Segesta (N 3, labeled M 165/)10 and two from the Punic necropolis of Lilybaeum (N 2, labeled M 166/).11 The concordance table attached below gives a precise overview of the samples added within the scope of the third release of FACEM, corresponding to previously defined fabrics. In this way, the newly defined samples can be easily distinguished from those that were previously published and had undergone archaeometric analysis. The only exception would be the two presumably western Sardinian12 fabrics W-SARD-A-6 and W-SARD-A-7 which have been created on the basis of our analysis of materials from Pantelleria and Carthage. The detailed scientific results of our research on imported amphorae from sites located in the sphere of influence of Carthage are discussed in Carthage Studies 7.13 For each sample published in this third release of FACEM, the precise reference to this article can be found in the concordance table below. Consequently, the following present brief treatment will only highlighten some of the key points of results treated more exhaustively elsewhere.14 “For the 6th century B.C.E. our fabric studies confirm the regular, but apparently still limited occurrence of amphorae from southern and western Sardinia in Carthage as well as on Pantelleria/Cossyra. (…) The earliest western Greek wine amphorae reach Carthage and its colony around the middle of the 6th century B.C.E. or a little thereafter. (…) Among the nine identified fragments of Gassner's rim type 1 we find two different Calabrian fabrics,15 that is to say CAL-A-1 (1 item) from the area of Rhegion and CAL-A-6 (3 items) from Crotone/Sybaris, in addition to the Corkyrian production ION-ADR-A-3 (3 items).” In Carthage as well as on Pantelleria, but apparently also on Jerba “(..) the Middle Punic I facies (480-430 B.C.E.) is essentially characterized by the occurrence of important quantities of wine amphorae from Corkyra, followed by a relevant number of items from south-western Calabria 6 I am indebted to my colleague S. Ben Tahar (Institut National Patrimoine, Jerba) for the opportunity to present here about 100 Greek amphorae from Ghizène, a port-site situated on the northern coast of Jerba, in commercial relations with Carthage from the Middle Punic period onwards at least, see Ben Tahar and Sternberg 2010 with earlier references. The imported Greek amphorae will be published by the present author in Ben Tahar (forthcoming). 7 Excavations of the Department of Classics and Archaeology of the University of Malta under the direction of N.C. Vella and A. Bonanno. The ceramic materials are currently studied by the author. 8 I thank the co-directors of this project N.C. Vella (Department of Classics and Archaeology of the University of Malta), R.F. Docter (Ghent University) and N. Cutajar (Superintendence of Cultural Heritage of Malta) for the sampling permission. For a preliminary report see Docter et al. 2012. 9 These excavations (campaigns 2006-2012) were undertaken by the New York University, Institute of Fine Arts, under the direction of C. Marconi. For the last preliminary report see Marconi 2012 with earlier references. The monographic edition of the excavation is planned for 2014 and will be published in the Biblioteca di 'Sicilia Antiqua'. For the Hellenistic materials referring to the construction phase of the temple, datable around 300 B.C.E., see Bechtold forthcoming 1. I am also indebted to C. Greco, director of the 'Parco Archeologico di Selinunte e Cave di Cusa Vincenzo Tusa', for the generous sampling permission. 10 From the excavations at the Northern Gate, for the amphorae see Bechtold 2008b. 11 I am indebted to M. L. Famà, director of the 'Parco archeologico ed ambientale presso le isole dello Stagnone e delle aree archeologiche di Marsala e dei Comuni limitrofi' for the authorization to sample selected amphorae, already published in Bechtold 1999. 12 See http://facem.at/project/papers.php, 'Other western Sardinian fabrics'. 13 Bechtold 2013e. 14 The following passage is taken from chapter 5 of Bechtold 2013e. 15 In addition to two more items attributed to still unidentified Calabrian productions. FACEM 3 <www.facem.at> 06.12.2013 where Rhegion stands out as a good candidate for at least one of the presumable kiln sites of this series. Our negative evidence for the documentation of CAL-A-6 during the MP I period seem to sustain Gassner's hypothesis on an identification of this fabric with the production of Sybaris destroyed in 510. More generally, previous data from Carthage and Pantelleria has now been corroborated by the analysis of the new assemblage from Ghizène (Jerba), the data from Malta and some recent publications of other other North African sites which all testify to the crucial importance of the trade route leading from Athens via Corkyra and southern Italy to Carthage's sphere of influence.